Andrew Wheating's Toe-Tappers

The youngest member of the U.S. track team in Beijing talks about up-tempo tunes, pirates, and why he'd love to be made of chocolate.

Jul 2, 2009

University of Oregon runner Andrew Wheating was just 20 years old in August 2008, when he stepped onto the track at Beijing National Stadium to represent the U.S. Olympic Team in the 800 meters. One year and several NCAA championhips later, Wheating says that there's one thing that will always remind him of his Olympic experience: Captain Jack Sparrow.

"I was really into the Pirates of the Carribean soundtrack while I was over there," Wheating says. "There's a song called 'He's a Pirate' and – I feel like such a loser admitting this – that's what was in my head during the Olympics.

"It's one of those songs that get you really jazzed. You start thinking, 'Maybe I'm a pirate, and maybe I'm about to slay some bad people. (Laughs.)

"It's weird," Wheating adds. "You'd think that memories of the Olympic Games would conjure up a more commanding song than something from a Disney movie, but that's what I remember."

"Need vs. Want" (Track 10): "Rap with a little trumpet action. A good mix of instruments."

"September" (Track 11): "They play this song at the track all the time. If I had to call any song 'my' song, this would be it."

"Kids" (Track 12): "I love snowboarding, LOVE it. This song was in a snowboarding movie I saw, and now every time I hear the tune I think of the scene from that movie - which was wicked gnarly."

"Showdown" (Track 13): "When I hear this song, I think about the showdown that's about to happen in my next race. 'It's gonna be a showdown...'"

RW: Your playlist includes a lot of classic rock. What turned you on to your parents' music?

"Well, it's funny. When I was growing up, every Saturday or Sunday morning my dad would blare his music – bands like Steve Miller, ELO, or Elton John, who was his favorite. He'd be cooking bacon and breakfast, and singing along. And he's English, with kind of a high-pitched voice, so you could hear him pretty clearly over whatever record he was listening to."

RW: Record? As in vinyl?

"Yeah. My dad had about a million albums on vinyl."

RW: So what was the first album that you ever bought on your own?

"The first CD I ever bought was the Godzilla soundtrack. Not the original movie, but the Matthew Broderick remake. I bought it because I thought the cover art was awesome.

"It was the first CD that I ever heard a swear word on. The word was "hell," which isn't too bad of a swear word, I guess. But when my brother and I heard it, we were like, 'Oh my God, don't tell Mom.'

"Later, the first album I bought that had a parental advisory sticker was Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP. My brother and I put the 'Sale' sticker over the 'Explicit Lyrics' thing, otherwise my mom would've never let us get it.

RW: I think we all pulled a trick like that at one point or another. So how did your taste in music change as you grew up?

"You know, I tried to get more into rap, especially when I lived in Atlanta for two years. It was during sixth and seventh grade, and rap songs were what everyone wanted to listen to at school dances.

"You know how those were – all the guys on one side of the floor, all the girls on the other. So now those songs remind me of blown attempts to ask girls to dance.

"Whenever I hear Nelly's 'Ride with Me', I think about a time I got my self all psyched up to talk to this one girl. I walked across the dance floor, thinking 'I'm gonna do this. This girl is gonna dance with me' the whole way. And then I bailed and made a beeline for the punch bowl.

"Anyway, as I grew up I started listening to more complex music. I like just about anything with a piano or other orchestration. I really enjoy songs with a solid beat – anything that is a good toe-tapper. 'Serenade' is the perfect example. It has a consistent, steady beat. And I like songs that involve more instruments &ndash the more you can incorporate different elements into a song, the more it'll grab my ear."

RW: Fair enough. Can you name five of your favorite bands &ndash either current or all-time?

"Well, what I want to hear will depend a lot on my mood. But there are some groups who I can almost always listen to. Steve Miller Band is definitely way up there. Matisyahu is an artist that I like a lot. I grew up listening to a lot of Green Day, and though I don't play them as much as I used to, they're still one of my top five. I'm really into the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and am learning to play songs from Califonication on guitar."

RW: Yeah, I'd read that you played guitar, and dabbled in piano, in your brief chat with Peter Gambaccini. Why did you want to be a musician?

"I started playing guitar in the summer before my freshman year at Oregon. I started playing because even though I like listening to music, I like it more if I can interpret it and learn to do it myself.

"A bunch of friends in my hometown had a band, and they could figure out how to play songs pretty quickly. Watching them do that was kinda frustrating to me, since I couldn't. So I bought a guitar and spent a lot of the summer sitting in my basement, working for four or five hours at a time to learn chord progressions and songs that I liked.

"The first song I tried was Sweet Child O' Mine &ndash which was probably not the best choice for a beginner. It was really tough. I got so frustrated trying to learn that opening riff that I almost broke the guitar over my leg. Eventually, I learned how to do it, but to this day it's still tough. Slash is a hell of a guitarist.

"As for piano, I played from second to fifth grade. I recently purchased a keyboard and am trying to learn to play again. I like figuring out Elton John songs, because he has an interesting way of putting things together. I'm getting better, too &ndash after I saw the movie The Hangover, I went home and figured out how to play "Stu's Song" pretty quickly."

RW: What sort of music do you listen to when you're training? Or on race day?

"Well, the day before each meet, I set up a playlist for my race. Most of the songs have a pretty quick tempo, and I arrange it so that the pace of the music picks up as my race gets closer. "Serenade" by Steve Miller winds up on every one, "No Leaf Clover" by Metallica is up there a lot, and they all end with ELO's "Showdown" &ndash to give me that last bit of juice.

"During the summertime, I'll listen to music on my training runs. I like to listen to more happy, upbeat music then. You know, feel-good music like 'Sweet Touch of Love.'"

RW: I noticed that track from Allen Toussaint on your list. Your description of the song – "I would love to spend 24 hours as a chocolate person" &ndash is probably my favorite quote to come out of these profiles so far.

"Think about it, dude. I'd be awesome. I'd spend a whole day doing nothing but putting smiles on people's faces.

"I'd go up to people who had ice cream and say 'Hey, you want some chocolate with that?' And then snap off a bit of my hip and give it to them. Or if there was a crying baby, I'd go up to him and be like, 'Here kid, suck on my thumb. It's candy!'

"I'd just walk around all day, making people happy. Because no one can be mad when they have chocolate."

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